Up At The Stars: Promise
by IceArceus
Summary: Ash contemplates a promise he made, while someone silently watches from the shadows. Precursor to Over The Seas: Love Is a Temptation. Oneshot. T for disturbing metaphors.


**A/N: Hi again! So this is a oneshot, set between the events of Lake Valor Grammar: Final Year and its sequel. Ash is now halfway through University and this is the precursor to events in the sequel: ****Over The Seas: Love Is A Temptation. ****I'll drop a few very discreet hints, but it's up to you to see whether you can work out what's going to happen!**

**There's a song again, and here's the link. (Honestly, my work is getting more and more song influenced.) The lyrics are not here. I'm not going to post any more fics with song lyrics in, because I found out it's illegal. I've taken all song lyrics out of LVG, because I don't really fancy the entire story being deleted. However, I feel that the artistic impact of this oneshot is diminished without the lyrics, so I hope you listen to the song with the link provided, if you want.**

**Add www. in front of this.**

** /watch?v=MOEDsSLNvj4**

**(It's not by Gary Barlow this time)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or any characters in the story.**

**Up At The Stars: Promise**

Ash lay on a grassy hill, looking up at the stars, falling into a pattern he had been in for a year. The surroundings were so familiar to him, save for the stars that changed. The sky was a dark sea, with little lanterns of stars floating, sparkling. The ground around him was carpeted by long grass, their sharp forms rustling in the wind. Trees enclosed the space, protectively guarding him with their branches, and their leaves little dark specks, turning and dancing with the breeze. The University buildings were not visible, and the only light he could see was from the stars. They reminded him so much of her; they shone just like her eyes. He sighed.

_Dawn._ He missed her. Her eyes just looked down at him, from the sky. The stars seemed like they had stolen the sparkle from her eyes, setting them into the blanket of the sky. He thought of her all the time. Whenever he woke up, and opened the curtains, he would think of her. _His sunrise. _She was the one who brought him out of his old, oblivious state. When the sky lit up with a rosy light in the morning, they coloured in the blush on her cheeks in his mind, on the wrong side of his eyes.

He remembered the day they had parted. It was the afternoon, and the sun had been shining brightly, a contrast to what he had felt. When he had been running to his mother's car, he could see the tears in her eyes, and he had struggled to hold back his own. When he had proclaimed his undying love to her just before he left, he felt as though he would never see her again.

Every star he could count now, their numbers did not rival the many good memories they had. He could not begin to list them all. She was in Solaceon University now, pursuing the dream she had chased for so long. A thousand miles from her, he wished he could see her now, instead of being here, in Santalune City. It was a beautiful city, but it lacked the one thing that would make it so much more magnificent. Her.

There was one little detail in this scene that Ash had missed; a small thorn that would affect this perfection so greatly. Lost in his memories, his mind failed to notice a pair of eyes staring, from behind the rough bark of a tree trunk a few steps away.

This figure stared at the scene it had seen for a month. How it wished to change everything, to make everything new for the young man in the centre of the ring of trees, looking at those stars so intently. The figure's eyes narrowed, trying to fathom what he was thinking, its eyes were stolen by darkness, without the light, its eyes were shadows of the daytime sky; the light blue of a river trickling away.

She smoothed her clothes, gazing at the unaware Ash in the centre.

Ash would wait for Dawn forever if he had to. The promise they had made stayed in his mind. It gripped his heart, holding her love inside, locking it away. Its foundations were strong, but time cast its sword on it, over and over. Cracks would begin to appear soon. Was she keeping this promise too? Ignorance weakened his will. But he steeled himself. Surrender was not an option.

The figure in the trees watched in fascination. She had no way of knowing what he was thinking. She sought shelter in the shade of the trees as the young man in the centre turned his head abruptly, seemingly disturbed. She drew back quickly, not wanting to be seen.

Her appearance would be hard to make out now, if you had stood in front of her, for it was night. The blood that flushed on her clothes leaked out into the darkness. Her hair of ichor lost its shine, spilling out the immortal substance into the night air. Her pleasant features were invisible in the lightless atmosphere.

She had watched Ash for a while now. He caught her eye, so mysterious, so different. Sure, he went out with his friends sometimes, but whenever they had spare time, after lectures, his friends would go drinking when it was dark, while he crept out of the scene, to a place where she had discovered only recently.

Although it may have been considered strange to follow someone who clearly wanted not to be followed a good distance from the main campus, curiosity itched inside of her, she wanted to know his secrets, to know _him. _

She felt the longing in her heart being replaced by determination. To make him hers. _It starts now._

As Ash cast his gaze over the stars and the peaceful surroundings for one last time, he knew for sure that once this year was over, he would see Dawn again, and they would get married, just like they had promised.

But he did not know promises were not unbreakable.

**A/N: I wrote this within three days of posting the last chapter of LVG. Aren't you guys proud of me? So, a kind of ambiguous ending for now. You might also have noticed that I used mostly metaphors to describe "her" I want you guys to guess! (So I can see if I'm any good at metaphors) Keep watch for the main sequel, ****Over The Seas: Love Is A Temptation****, as well as my other new fic, which I'm releasing as well: ****Of Royal Birth.**

**Tell me if you want to be PM'd for their release, or you can just "follow" me and it'll come up on your author alert anyway.**

**The main sequel is AFTER University, so if you hate "High School" fanfiction with a passion then don't worry.**

**Please review and include your speculations. **


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